Konstantinos Bazigos has been a wine grower in Kefalonia’s Omala Valley for 30 years. While extreme weather like droughts, heatwaves, floods, and hailstorms are not new to him, the situation has intensified in recent years.

“What has changed is the frequency. Where these events used to happen every 10 to 15 years, now we are experiencing extreme weather conditions once, sometimes twice a year,” he said.

The trend is troubling for the island’s small but vibrant wine industry. “Obviously we see a reduction in both the quantities and qualities of the grape and the wine,” said Bazigos, who leads the Robola Wine Cooperative of Kefalonia, a nonprofit that represents 300 vine growers. The group sells the wines it produces under the label Orealios Gaea with a combined average output of 300,000 bottles per year. Their flagship product is the Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) Robola white. “We’re not just talking about a reduction in crop size, but about vines and entire vineyards dying,” Bazigos added.

A gathering for growers

Kefalonia’s dedicated band of grape growers and winemakers make some of the most distinctive and admired wines in Greece, so the group took part in the Kefalonia Wine Hub conference to tackle the pressing issue of water scarcity in vineyards. Organized by the Kefalonia Winemakers Association, the event brought together viticulturists, winemakers, academics, students, and local officials from Greece and abroad.

“Most professionals in this field feel that water shortage is a very important issue that they need to address, because the future will be very different,” said Antheia Kotsi, the event’s organizer and a digital marketing expert focused on food and wine. Previous wine hub topics have explored new technologies, the use of drones, and biodynamic viticulture. 

Last summer, Kefalonia, known for its stunning cliffside beaches and turquoise waters, was among a handful of islands to declare a water shortage emergency because of low rainfall and prolonged heat following a warm winter. The island’s population, typically around 35,000, nearly doubles in summer due to tourism, further straining water resources. Flooding in February added to the challenges.

Part of the wine hub conference was focused on irrigation in the vineyards through water reuse like collection and storage, and recycling wastewater; along with other methods like enhancing the environment through regenerative viticulture. Experts from Familia Torres, a major Spanish wine producer committed to zero emissions by 2040, shared insights on sustainable vineyard management.

The art of intervention

Israeli winemaker and viticulturalist Itay Lahat, who produces about 50,000 bottles annually in the Galilee region, discussed parallels between Kefalonia and his own region’s climate, “Annual rainfall is comparable, but we rarely get rain during the growing season,” he said. Israeli winemakers are highly dependent on irrigation, and Lahat himself is an advocate for “maximum intervention” in vineyard management – essentially controlling the water supply rather than waiting on unpredictable rain.

Sommelier and wine consultant Bradley Tomlinson, attending the event in Lixouri, reflected on the delicate balance in winemaking. “The whole process of winemaking or vineyard management is clever intervention. It’s very sensitive and sensible of these farmers and winemakers to care about the health of the plant and also with the fruit that it gives them in order to make better, brighter wine. But it comes with the risk that not all the people talk about: the death of vintage,” he said. For Tomlinson, part of winemaking’s beauty lies in nature’s unpredictability. Still, he acknowledged that irrigation is increasingly necessary to prevent catastrophic crop failures, especially in Greece’s climate.

‘The chardonnay of Kefalonia’

Kefalonia boasts a centuries-old tradition of small-plot winemaking dominated by native varieties such as PDO-certified Robola, muscat, and mavrodafni reds. Other local grapes include vostilidi, zakynthino, tsaoussa, and moschatella, many of which produce citrusy orange wines.

Many of the roughly dozen winemakers on the island run family businesses. Haritatos Vineyard in Lixouri, managed by three siblings on an estate that dates to 1863, is one of them. Surrounded by olive, fig and cypress trees and plants of every variety, the vineyard produces about 30,000 bottles a year and follows regenerative viticulture principles, fostering a diverse natural ecosystem that supports vine health. 

Ioanna Haritatos said the vineyard has “a channel system that collects the rainwater and we drive it to an open water tank.” Last summer when the vines were very stressed, they used the system twice. Their methods encourage longevity of the vineyards and the plants. “We believe very much in native varieties like vostilidi. We think it should be the chardonnay of Kefalonia.”

Haritatos Vineyard has adopted a long-term approach to winemaking and water conservation; yet profits remain elusive, as they have for other winemakers on the island.

Investing in the future

Nikos Maureas, a former importer of Greek wines and spirits to the U.S., now based in Greece, stressed the need for long-term investment. “Many of the local growers and winemakers are taking it year by year and can’t afford to invest five years in regenerating vineyards. They need to start investing slowly but surely to remain viable financially in the short term and secure their future 10 years down the line. Water scarcity will only worsen.“

Wine retailer Perry Panagiotakopoulos, who owns Wine Kiosk in Kalamata and is a partner in Pharaoh wine bar in Athens, echoed concerns over scale and affordability. “We have seen a massive reduction in wine over the last four or five years, and the biggest problem is the water,” he said. “It’s very worrying. Small wineries may struggle to survive, but I hope the solutions discussed at the conference can help.”

Developing a plan

Evriviadis “Vladis” Sclavos, co-owner of an organic and biodynamic winery and president of the Kefalonia Winemakers Association, identified tourism and development as significant pressures on the island’s water system. The biggest issue, according to Sclavos, is the lack of central management when it comes to water sources for the vineyards. “We have no plan from the main government for the next 20 years. What will happen?” Learning from winemakers in countries like Spain and Israel will give Kefalonian growers a roadmap for the future, he added. “The water problem in those countries is bigger than in Greece, but in 10 years it may be our problem, too.”